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Ed’s Letter

My earliest memories as a little girl are playing in my mother’s beauty cabinet…

As it turns out, 37 years and two daughters later, things haven’t changed much. For me (once I’ve arranged my pantry and sorted my wardrobe), January is very much the month I reassess my beauty routine – which seems to be the case for many of my colleagues and friends. After months of cold weather and perhaps too many late nights, we can see it all in the mirror. So now’s the time to set our self-care intentions for the year ahead.

For me, it’s really important to have that time built into my routine, so when life gets busy, I have rituals that make me feel better. I tried a whole new skincare routine in the months leading up to this issue, alongside my colleagues at Wardrobe ICONS HQ. We all have such different skin struggles that we decided to hit reset together, trying four very different regimens. Find out what we thought, loved – and didn’t love so much.

Our incredible cover star, Aerin Lauder, revealed to us that she also loved playing with her own grandmother’s make-up. In fact, she was the only woman on our wish list for this issue. Not only has she continued the beauty legacy of her grandmother, Estée Lauder, but also has a namesake lifestyle brand that’s going from strength to strength. We met her at the Serpentine Gallery (she was wearing a super-chic black Givenchy suit with a dreamy oversized neck bow) to celebrate Estée Lauder in the UK, and Deborah interviewed her for our exclusive cover story.

On the topic of playing with cosmetics, I also stepped out of my comfort zone by going to Tom Ford Covent Garden for a glam make-up tutorial. I felt my evening make-up was in a rut and it was great to do something completely different that still felt achievable at home. For everyday, I was so inspired by Petro’s how-to session at Bobbi Brown. She looked enviably glowy when I saw her afterwards!

We couldn’t edit a beauty issue without a nod to the cult buys that no bathroom cabinet should be without: just like the perfect-fitting pair of jeans and classic blazer, we’ve listed the beauty formulas that every woman should own because they’ll never fail you.